- Collection:
- Archives for Research on Women and Gender
- Title:
- Sandra Barnhill oral history interview, 2014-08-07
- Creator:
- Barnhill, Sandra
- Contributor to Resource:
- Gerrard, Morna
- Publisher:
- Atlanta, Ga. : Georgia State University Library
- Date of Original:
- 2014-08-07
- Subject:
- Women prisoners--Services for
Death row inmates
Children of women prisoners
Prisoners' families
Nonprofit organizations
Women Lawyers - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Fulton County, 33.79025, -84.46702
United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798 - Medium:
- oral histories (literary works)
- Type:
- Sound
- Format:
- audio/mpeg
- Description:
- Sandra Barnhill earned her BA in political science at Georgia State University (1982), and her J.D. at the University of Texas (1984). From 1983 to 1987, she served as a staff attorney for the Southern Prisoners' Defense Committee. In this role, she represented indigent prisoners in class action challenges to prison conditions and in post-conviction challenges on capital convictions. During this time, Barnhill became frustrated by the lack of support given to mothers sentenced to prison, and their families. In 1987, she founded Foreverfamily (originally named Aid to Imprisoned Mothers (AIM)), which is a nonprofit Atlanta-based organization advocating for inmate parents and their children. In 2004, the Ford Foundation recognized Barnhill for her outstanding leadership efforts.
Sandra Barnhill begins by discussing her family, including their strong sense of spirituality and experiences living overseas because of her father's position in the military. She discusses her undergraduate education at Agnes Scott College and Georgia State University, and attending law school at the University of Texas. While in law school, Barnhill began working at a legal assistance clinic, where she provided legal resources to inmates. As a result of this work and some of her law school coursework, Barnhill became interested in providing access to legal services for disenfranchised people. After law school, she began practicing law involving death penalty cases. Barnhill discusses the racism and sexism she experienced in a profession dominated by white men. During her time working on death penalty and prison condition cases, Barnhill became interested in the specific needs of women prisoners, and she eventually founded the organization that became Foreverfamily, an Atlanta-based nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting children of incarcerated parents. - Metadata URL:
- http://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/arwg/id/20422
- IIIF manifest:
- https://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/iiif/2/arwg:20422/manifest.json
- Language:
- eng
- Additional Rights Information:
- Copyright to this item is owned by Georgia State University Library. Georgia State University Library has made this item available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. For more information, see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: Sandra Barnhill, interviewed by Morna Gerrard, August 7, 2014, Activist Women Oral History Project, Archives for Research for Women and Gender. Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University.
- Extent:
- 02:06:05
- Original Collection:
- Activist Women Oral History Project
Archives for Research on Women and Gender - Holding Institution:
- Georgia State University. Special Collections
- Rights:
-
